Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Academic Dean

This letter is my formal written statement to appeal to drop the requirement I withdraw for one year from Queen’s University. In this letter I will outline the events that have taken place over the years that have affected my life and my health. Documentation has also been provided for these events.
I had surgery in May of 2022 where I had pneumonia. After that required a longer stay in hospital, after this surgery I saw a physiotherapist to help in my recovery. I continued to see a physiotherapist to help manage the health condition. THe documentation provided are the hospital notes from that stay and some other paperwork.
In the Fall semester of 2022 I got very sick for a few weeks, I did not have to go to hospital but this illness caused my chronic health condition to become worse and very hard to manage, I struggled to meet deadlines and work on my classes, I was able to get some help from my teachers to pass some classes.
In the Winter semester a few things began to happen to me. I was laid off from work, I got COVID, and found out I was going to get another surgery. I had my pre-surgical appointment in March and had the surgery at the start of May 2023. I have been and still am going to physiotherapy to help recover. The problem was enough that sitting for longer periods of time doing school work was an issue. Being laid off from work has led to worrying about money and how I am going to be able to pay for medical supplies.
I also began experiencing heart related issues in January of 2023, such as heart palpitations, fast heart rate, dizzy/ gray out spells when I stood up and hand tremors among the more present issues. I have talked to my doctor about this and I am waiting to hear about when I can pick up an event monitor to begin to figure out what is going on. THe effect on my school performance has made it difficult to stay in one position for a long period of time, typing can be hard due to the tremors, the dizzy spells/ gray spells have led to almost passing out and having to lay down. The heart palpitations/fast heart rate have given me the feeling like I am always about to have a panic attack when I know I am not panicking about anything, such as waking up in the morning before anything has even happened.
I have been in contact with an academic advisor Jenna Kring on and off throughout the winter semester as she has helped me to figure out what steps I can take and what options available to me. I have applied for and received permission to drop some classes that I had failed over the year.
I am in a more stable position in my life. I have found new steady employment, my issues I had to have surgery for are now in a position where it is mostly manageable as long as I continue to have physiotherapy and I am in the process of getting my other issues back under control. I am only able to continue these things while I have access to my parents healthcare which is available to me so long as I am a full time student, which for me is a minimum of 6 credits in the fall and 6 credits in the winter semesters. Because I am on some medication that is expensive out of pocket I am very reliant on the insurance to cover most out of pocket costs. I have applied for ODSP but it is a long process and there is no guarantee it will be approved. I have also been in contact with Student Support and have gotten information about resources from them as well. I have taken advantage of what helps the school to offer distance learning students.
I took what steps I could during these events, such as meeting with a therapist, meeting with my health care teams, communicating with my teachers about what was happening, and talking to the different student services that are available to me.
I hope that with this letter and the documents I have provided enough reasoning so that I will not have to withdraw.

Thank you Amy Owen